Part of a continuing series on celebrating the church year.
As Ordinary Time starts to wind down, there are a few feast days you may wish to celebrate at home.
Many protestants, particularly Lutherans and Presbyterians, celebrate Reformation Day, either on the 31st of October or the preceding Sunday. As the name implies, it’s a day that the church remembers the reformation and honors the reformers.
When I taught, we had a reformation day carnival and my favorite activity was “pin the 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door.” That would be pretty easy to do at home. The hymn that is most closely associated with the day is “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” which is a great one for children to learn.
To learn more about them, you could read some stories of the reformers (Westminster bookstore has a few good ones among the history selections) or watch the movie Luther (which was surprisingly well made.)
Ligoner is offering a free audio download of Dr. Sproul’s new children’s book about a barber’s encounter with Martin Luther: “The Barber Who Wanted to Pray” to celebrate Reformation Day.
All Saints Day falls on November 1st, but is often celebrated on the following Sunday. We remember all the saints who have gone before us, including those we know who have died in the faith and more famous “saints.” It is a good day to talk about and remember the resurrection of the body and the new heavens and the new earth. Roman Catholics observe this as a fast day.
We have loved sharing the book version of the children’s hymn “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” (amazon) with our girls. It’s worth owning. A classic hymn for the day is “For All the Saints.”
The last Sunday before Advent (falling somewhere in the week of November 20th to 26th) is the Feast of Christ the King. As Advent is the start of the liturgical year, it is ending with a bang, remembering the triumphant Lord in his office as king before the more contemplative season of Advent. Jesus is our mediator as prophet, priest and king, and is a good to have a day to focus on how Jesus is our King. We will probably share a feast with friends and definitely spend some time talking about Jesus as king.
